Travel and cameras

thawkins

thawkins

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We are going to Europe this fall for two weeks. I am planning to take a D90 and would like to take one of my RF cameras also. Travel will be on Delta and Air France airlines. Any tips would be appreciated concerning carring cameras as I have not be on the airlines since 9-11 occurred.

Thanks
tom
 
Make sure you take all film rolls from package, put them in ziplock bags for speedy hand inspection.

Never put film rolls or loaded camera in check-in bagage. They'll use stronger X-ray on those.

Some might say it's OK to use carry-on X-ray inspection for slower films, but I'll never take changes as the X-ray exposure to film is accumulative as any other light sources. (say, two connecting flight both ways makes 4x exposure)
 
From your avatar, it looks like you have a Leica M and a Kodak Retina camera. Either one would work. The Retina with fixed lens is best if you want to carry the least. The Leica M would be best if you want to also take different focal lengths. Have a nice trip. I love to travel, it is so visually stimulating and conducive to photography.
 
FrankS said:
From your avatar, it looks like you have a Leica M and a Kodak Retina camera. Either one would work. The Retina with fixed lens is best if you want to carry the least. The Leica M would be best if you want to also take different focal lengths. Have a nice trip. I love to travel, it is so visually stimulating and conducive to photography.
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I have several other RF cameras but the M3 and the Retina IIa are my favorites. I have owened the IIa since 1968 and it's F2 Schneider Zenon lens is too sharp to be believed. I am leaning toward taking the IIa because of that and it's convenient size.
 
About cameras, they're no problem in flights these days... About film, you can safely allow carry-on x-rays to be used several times on your film up to ISO400. I've done it a dozen times on the same rolls without any problem, For 800 color and 3200 B&W I ask for hand inspection (I keep those few in a smaller ziplock bag inside my bigger ziplock bag containing all film) so when I get to the machines I tell the agent, as I give him the big bag while taking out the small one: you can x-ray all these, but these few are high speed film and they get damaged if you pass them through the machine... If everything's organized and inside two transparent ziplock bags, they see you consider their job and they'll gladly hand inspect the film you want. I prefer to bring film with me, because even in big cities, some films are not available some days... Generally I travel with 30-60 rolls and 3 or 4 cameras inside a shoulder bag. I take care of not having 800 or 3200 film loaded when getting to the x-rays.

Cheers,

Juan.
 
Was forced to stick Tri-X, Portra & Ultramax (all 400) through hand carry xrays at London Heathrow and in Rome. Also had it to let it through the xray more than 10 times as I was on a cruise.
Absolutely no problems, even though there was no sign on the scanner at Heathrow saying that it was film safe (staff there said it was & wouldn't hand check it)

Rome and the cruise scanners were all marked as film safe, with the cruise scanner marked as "up to and including 1600". Asked a cruise staff member who also shoots film and he's never had problems.

So get a hand check wherever possible, but don't panic if you have to let it through.
 
On my travel to New Zealand my films were scanned 9x. I saw no ill effects. I had 100 & 400 ISO films along. But there are many shops & labs in Europe. So you could just get your film there and even have it developed. I guess this would be more expensive than in US, but you would avoid scanning the films if you are not confident about it.
 
Matus said:
On my travel to New Zealand my films were scanned 9x. I saw no ill effects. I had 100 & 400 ISO films along. But there are many shops & labs in Europe. So you could just get your film there and even have it developed. I guess this would be more expensive than in US, but you would avoid scanning the films if you are not confident about it.
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I was thinking about having the film (probably Delta 100 and Tri-x) sent to a lab in the US on Fed-X or some other carrier as I used it. That way it would not have to be scanned on the return leg to the US.
 
When we have traveled with film cameras we would tend to use a mini lab in the city town we were staying. Though you can only do it with c41. I did take a film pot and bits, bought the dev etc locally, but it turned out to be a bit of a pain.
 
xxloverxx said:
Was forced to stick Tri-X, Portra & Ultramax (all 400) through hand carry xrays at London Heathrow and in Rome. Also had it to let it through the xray more than 10 times as I was on a cruise.
Absolutely no problems, even though there was no sign on the scanner at Heathrow saying that it was film safe (staff there said it was & wouldn't hand check it)

Rome and the cruise scanners were all marked as film safe, with the cruise scanner marked as "up to and including 1600". Asked a cruise staff member who also shoots film and he's never had problems.

So get a hand check wherever possible, but don't panic if you have to let it through.
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I had the same experience 3 years ago. Seems my film was scanned up to ten times during that trip. All came out OK.
 
If you are staying in a hotel at the start of your trip, then you might consider ordering most of your film from a european online stockist. That way the film would have one less trip through the x-rays, but even so I have had 400asa film scanned three times, with the hand-baggage scanners, and there was no noticeable problem. Juan's point about good presentation of the film to speed up the checking is a good one - the security-staff will be happier with that and so will you 🙂
 
Your avatar is a great combo as some one else above pointed out. However for my upcoming trip to Central America, I am taking a D300s (and the damn 16-35mm) and either my M3 or XA, depending upon my carryon's bulkiness at the last minute. Yes I will pick and choose between XA and M3 minutes before I leave for my trip. The ipod pouch in my back pack will carry about 10 rolls of artista prm 400 and a few tmy and FP4+s. I have travelled with film using this setup during the past 4 trips and nothing has affected my film. I do not request hand check. In fact, during my last trip with a DLUX4 and bronica 645, I was pretty sure that my 120 rolls of TMY400 would be ruined. But all went well. However I know nothing about films above 400asa.
 
thawkins said:
We are going to Europe this fall for two weeks. I am planning to take a D90 and would like to take one of my RF cameras also. Travel will be on Delta and Air France airlines. Any tips would be appreciated concerning carring cameras as I have not be on the airlines since 9-11 occurred.

Thanks
tom
Click to expand...

None of the post-911 directives impacts cameras/lenses/film, other than the inspectors tend to be more zealous about sidelining you for a hand inspection if you have anything more than a point-and-shoot or a DSLR with one lens attached. I've had my camera bag (1-2 bodies and 4-5 lenses) sidelined and inspected on at least one leg of any trip I've taken since 9/11. The upside is that, for the most part, post-9/11 TSA inspectors are a cut above the neanderthals who were formerly employed in that duty, and treat camera gear with more respect for its value.
 
Agree with the x-ray advice above. Found as a tourist it wasn't easy or convenient to go searching for film supplies - take what you think you'll need. Consider taking the Leica with a WA lens - I think you'll use it a lot more than 50mm.
 
thawkins said:
I was thinking about having the film (probably Delta 100 and Tri-x) sent to a lab in the US on Fed-X or some other carrier as I used it. That way it would not have to be scanned on the return leg to the US.
Click to expand...

I have no personal experience on that but have heard that the FedEX packages are scanned with X-ray at random. I do recall someone mentioning that he had all film practically burned by FedEX (or was it UPS?). But that was just one single occasion, all others have reported no problems. And I am not 100% sure about that single occasion anymore.

It may well be that they scan ALL packages with something like carry-on X-ray, but just SOME packages they scan with stronger ones. But that is pure speculation. Go and browse the largeformatphotograhy.info/forum - this subject was discussed there several times into details.
 
The carry-on x-ray machine is much safer for film than the luggage x-ray, and the package x-ray that UPS/FedX may use. Carry your film (exposed and un-exposed) in your carry-on bag with your camera.
 
One airport I went through (think NZ) had a sign saying that film was OK to go through carry on xray and wouldn't be damaged unless it was high ISO, unfortunately I don't recall what it was, except it was a LOT higher than my 160 film. Just stick your film in your pockets and walk through the metal detector if concerned. I've never had any probs going through airports with camera gear.
 
Camera gear is no problem at airports.

The impact of airport scanners on film is a perennial question here. If you examine airport web sites, they consistently assert that carry-on scanners will not produce any visible effects on film at or below ISO 800. They also are pretty up front in saying that the scanners for checked luggage will fry films of all kinds.

The effect is accumulative. However, as you can see here, several trips through a carry-on scanner don't seem to damage film.

My own travel experience bears this out.

If you ask for hand checks, bear in mind that you may not get them, even in the U.S. I've been told, for example, that security staff at Heathrow will not hand check film. YMMV.

I don't know the x-ray policy of shippers like FedEx, UPS and DHL. But if it was me, I'd scan everything that goes into one of my airplanes. Airplanes are really expensive.
 
Up to ISO 800 is safe for x-ray with carry on. I travel often and carryon my cameras and lenses with film. I keep the bag under the seat in front or on the over head. Never had a problem.
 
You're supposed to be able to get a hand inspection with film >=800 ISO, but the screeners don't know. They see so little film that they don't care and just tell you to put it through the X-ray. I would just bring 400 ISO or slower film.

Bottom line, I brought 400 ISO film through a few X-ray machines at it was okay. (I didn't put it in checked luggage.) Kodak says it can go through up to five times and be okay.

Also, many museums require screening, so don't take every roll with you everyday you go out or you will hit your limit quickly.
 
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